It don't read Umair Haque, you should. Here's his letter to Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
You're the Supreme Leader, so I guess you probably think you hold all the cards. The problem is that it's the last hand of the last game — ever.
Here's what you're up against: the new economics of organization.
You command and control. The opposition self-organizes.
Your advantage is force. The opposition's is resilience.
You had a strategy — to maintain power. The opposition has a purpose — to change the world.
You divide and conquer. The opposition links and unifies.
You wield thin power — violence. The opposition wields thick power — belief.
If one voice can change a room — then it can change the world.
What does that really mean?
There is nothing more asymmetrical than an ideal.
This is true of all organizational structures that are dependent on controlling the imagination and initiative of people. Haque closes his letter with the following.
PS — If you really want to understand the difference between 20th century strategy and 21st century strategy — read this. And reflect on how it's exactly the opposite of what most businesses would do. Much love to the Twitter crew for standing up for their ideals.
In my book Without Warning, I retell the Rosa Parks story, which is quite different than most have been told. During my research I came across this quote, FFrederick Douglas, abolitionis, 1849. It's powerful and succinct.
"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong, which will be imposed upon them; and this will continue till they have resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those who they suppress.
WOW, is all I can say.
Posted by: Rodney Johnson | June 25, 2009 at 05:28 PM